Tomra study highlights bottle deposit recycling behaviors

The Tomra Collection Solutions business unit of Norway-based Tomra Group has released a report on consumers’ shopping preferences and attitudes around drink container recycling.

For the report, “How recycling habits impact shopping behavior,” Tomra conducted online survey panels in seven countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia) in November 2022, surveying 1,000 consumers in each market ages 18 to 70 who returned drink containers for recycling at least every other month.

“Globally, over 1.4 trillion drink containers are sold each year, and 1 million plastic bottles are bought every minute,” says Charles Riegle, senior vice president of public affairs at Tomra Collection in the U.S. “Plastic drink containers are highly recyclable, but only 2 percent of the world’s plastic packaging gets recycled in a closed loop, so it’s vital that we look at what motivates recycling behavior and what consumers are seeking from the recycling experience.”

According to the research, consumers’ main motivation to return containers to a deposit-return system was getting back the deposit paid on their drink containers (76 percent of respondents), followed by consideration for the environment (59 percent), keeping their home tidy (44 percent) and reducing litter in the community (42 percent). Tomra reports that environmental considerations are more important among younger consumers when compared with older consumers, and in Sweden and Slovakia, environmental considerations are the No. 1 reason consumers returned containers.

The study also highlights electronic payout of container deposit refunds has also gained interest among consumers. Tomra reports that 34 percent of respondents say they would like to have their deposit refunded to a store loyalty card or app, and 29 percent prefer a digital refund voucher over a paper voucher.

The research also shows that returning drink containers for recycling has become a habit for consumers, with an average of 93 percent of respondents returning at least 90 percent of their containers. In addition, 66 percent of respondents would like to be able to return other used drink containers for recycling to receive a refund, and 21 percent say they would like to be able to donate their deposit refund to charity direct from a reverse vending machine.

According to the study, the most common frequency for returning containers was one to two times per month (46 percent of respondents), with 66 percent of respondents returning up to 29 containers during each visit. Tomra reports that younger consumers recycled less often than older consumers, but younger consumers tend to drop off a higher volume of containers on each visit to a reverse vending machine.

Additionally, when choosing where to return drink containers, a well-functioning reverse vending area was considered the third-most important criteria, after the store being the one where respondents normally shop or close to home. It was the second-most important criteria for high-volume recyclers (returning more than 50 containers each time). Well-functioning recycling facilities were ahead of easy parking and the presence of self-service checkouts as factors in deciding a store. Also, 87 percent of respondents put their deposit refund toward grocery purchases.
 
A smooth recycling experience was also vital to consumers who participated in the study. Thirty-one percent of respondents say they would go to another store to return their bottles and cans if there is a long line or downtime at the recycling facilities, and for one country this was almost half of all respondents, Tomra says.

The desire for an efficient recycling experience was also seen in respondents’ interest in a multifeed reverse vending machine, where consumers can pour in a bag of containers in one go, rather than inserting them one by one. Tomra reports that 46 percent of respondents would like to use multifeed reverse vending. 

The report concludes that providing a smooth, pleasant recycling experience at reverse vending machines can help to drive consumer loyalty to a grocery store and increase sales. Tomra says another key learning from the study is that a positive evaluation of a store’s reverse vending facilities depends on several aspects of the experience, such as reliability, convenience, speed and hygiene.